


Silence

by Alex_E



Category: Iron Fist (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 05:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12382074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_E/pseuds/Alex_E
Summary: At the end of the defenders Danny breaks.





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't seen the defenders yet. But the ending was spoiled :(

He tries to meditate.  
He tries to stay grounded  
He is failing and his chest hurts and it's hard to breathe.

Screams.

He hears them even from far away. His mother.  
The sound cuts straight into his heart, filling him with hopeless dread.  
He was falling, it was cold and white and he was alone.

He opens his eyes and he is still in his cell.  
He must have had an episode again.

Panic attacks Claire called them once.  
They have been coming more frequently nowadays.  
He should probably get some form of professional help.  
Claire told him to she was right about that too. She was right about a lot of things.

He fucked up. He fucked up big time and he doesn't know how to make it right.  
He deserves this. This silence that surrounds him.  
A silence that smothered every sound, every breath, every whisper, every hope he has.  
Turning up the volume of the thoughts he is trying to suppress.

The Hand was defeated (for now) his parents death was avenged.  
Kun Lun disappeared therefore his next mission was set out before him.  
He wondered if he would ever get to live life on his own terms.

How he longed for the days, he thought sadly, when it was just Davos and himself  
training and sparring under the watchful eye of master Lei Kun. It had all been so much simpler in those days.

They lied.

Master Lei Kun, Davos, Harold even his parents when they said it would be okay.  
He knows deep down there was also no chance anything or anyone could have prepared him for what his life became after he fell. 

But they all lied. 

He remembers falling one day then everything turned black and his arm was hurting and Ward was there.

The sound of keys clinking together and the door opening bring him back to the present.  
The detective who arrested him opened the door wearing an unhappy expression.

“You’re free to go Mr. Rand.”

He stands up and follows the detective quietly as they walk through the corridor to the front desk.  
Immediately he spots Ward standing behind the desk. Ward bailed him out he realises.  
He smiles at him and there is no reaction at all. Ward is just standing. He is very good at standing, he does it with meaning he thinks to himself. 

The detective leads him to the desk sergeant. Who gives him an annoyed look and shoves some papers his way.  
He signs them and he gets some of his stuff back. Danny hears the man mumbling something that sounds like rich kid.

He continues to make his way over to Ward.  
He wants to hug him. Instead Wards face darkens and he stares at him coldly. “Let's go”, he says and Danny follows.  
They reach the car. 

"Get in, Danny," he tells him. Danny looks up at him, startled.

"Ward, I – "

"This is not a night when you want to argue with me," Ward says angry. "Get in. This isn't open for debate."

Danny does as he's told, sliding over in the passenger's seat and buckling up the seat belt.  
He fixes his gaze on the road. Anything to avoid eye contact with Ward right now.

They drive. Danny thinks perhaps he'll be dropped off at his apartment, or at the Dojo.  
Oh god what would Colleen say, did she know. Of course she did. Wait why isn't she here?

“What were you thinking,” Ward says and Danny snaps out of his thoughts.

"I…" Danny started, before realizing that he didn't quite know how to finish the sentence.

“No don't answer that.”

The silence that fell upon them was not a comfortable one. That damned silence again.

“What you are doing is reckless and dangerous. You are going to get yourself seriously hurt or even killed one of these days.” 

That might not even be so bad Danny thought. And that's the sad truth he has been trying to suppress. It silently sneaked up on him. 

He does his best to keep from crying. But the tears are welling up and the first drops are rolling down on his face.  
He can't hold it in he can't pretend. Pretending to be fine didn't work out so well.

Ward shoots a worried glance at an increasingly fragile Danny.

Suddenly the car stops.

"It's okay." Ward says.

And he breaks.

“It's not okay, it's miles from okay, it's fucking far from okay Ward. It has never been okay.”  
He is screaming and he knows he sounds hysterical. Okay was what he hasn't been in years.  
He’s having a breakdown, he realises vaguely, everything he has been doing points towards that.  
His hand is glowing and he can't control it. He feels like he is falling again.

Ward reaches out and lays his hand on his hand covering the glow.

It’s warm and it’s sudden and it’s shocking and completely unexpected.

It’s anchoring.

Ward's hand encircles his wrist and he holds on tight. 

Danny’s face crumbled and his next breath came out as a sob.  
“D-don't tell me it will be all right. I'm sick of being lied to Ward.”  
He choked back another sob.

Ward lets go of Danny's wrist and he wrapped his arms around Danny, pulling him close.  
Danny dug his fingers into Ward's shoulders, his entire body shaking with sobs.

"It's okay." Ward says again.

“No, it's not.” He whispers.

“Okay it's not.”

“You understand?” 

“Yeah,” Ward smiles softly.

They drive again, in silence and this time he welcomes it.  
Because he is falling and Ward is there.


End file.
